It is common practice for professional chefs and cooks to hold larger knives, such as an eight-inch or ten-inch chef's knife, with one hand on a portion of the knife blade 20 and on a portion of the adjacent knife handle 22, as shown on FIGS. 1 and 2. The knife blade is pinched on both sides by the thumb 24 and index finger 26 while the ring finger, middle finger, and outermost finger curl under the handle. The other hand is then free to hold a work piece, with fingers often curled and knuckles guiding the knife blade. This technique of holding a knife, referred to herein as “choking up,” has several advantages over simply holding a knife with all four fingers and thumb only on the handle.
The need to prepare food quickly, efficiently, and safely is important in professional and home kitchens. To increase efficiency, culinary workers often prefer to use one large knife to cut small and large work pieces rather than use several knives of different sizes or configurations. This avoids having to find a particular knife and to change from one knife to another, thereby allowing culinary workers to move quickly from one task to the next. However, small work pieces often require more precise cutting, which requires increased control of a knife. Choking up allows culinary workers to increase control over a large knife to achieve precise cuts on small work pieces. Even on large work pieces, choking up allows for better control of cutting angles since the blade sides are stabilized by the thumb and index finger, which are typically a person's two strongest digits. Also, culinary workers with larger hands may find it difficult to comfortably fit all four fingers under the knife handle and, thus, may need to choke up on the knife blade.
When properly choking up on a knife, the knuckle or metacarpophalangeal joint 28 of the index finger is positioned above the interface between the knife blade and knife handle. The proximal phalange of the index finger 30, which is between the metacarpophalangeal joint and proximal interphalangeal joint 32, extends over the top edge 34 of the knife blade so that the medial phalange 36 of the index finger presses against one side of the blade to counterbalance pressure applied by the thumb on the other side of the blade. As such, the proximal phalange of the index finger normally experiences significant pressure from the top edge of the knife blade. The pressure increases at the abrupt ninety-degree corners where the horizontal surface of the top edge meets the sides of the knife blade. As such, repeatedly choking up on a knife often causes a blister to form on the proximal phalange of the index finger, which eventually hardens into a large callous, often referred to as a knife callous or chef's callous.
Many people do not choke up, holding a large knife only by the knife handle 22 because they have not been taught how to choke up in order to achieve better control. Also the knife handle, which is often rounded and ergonomically shaped, serves as a visual cue that discourages many people from placing their thumb and index finger on the sides of the knife blade. Even when people are shown how to choke up, the uncomfortable feel of the smooth, hard surface of the knife blade and the pain from blisters that begin to form on the proximal phalange of the index finger discourage many people from continuing to choking up on a knife.
Prior devices to facilitate use of a knife involve platforms for resting a thumb or tip of the index finger on the top edge of a knife blade in order to force a knife downwards. However, pressing the top edge of a large knife blade with a thumb finger tip is undesirable in many situations, such as when precise control of cutting angle is required. In addition, it is often more efficient and easer to cut a work piece using a forward slicing motion rather than relying on a downward force. Thus, these prior art devices and methods fail to promote choking up on a knife in the proper manner.
Other prior devices to facilitate use of a knife involve protruding handles and knobs. These protruding handles and bulbous knobs do not allow the proximal phalange of the index finger to extend over the top edge of the blade so that the medial phalange 36 of the index finger, not just the finger tip, push against one side of the blade to counterbalance pressure applied by the thumb on the other side of the blade.
Thus, there is an unsatisfied need for an improved method and a device that teaches, aids and encourages persons to properly choke up on a knife in order to achieve better safety through increased control of the knife, while simultaneously relieving discomfort caused by blisters and calluses associated with choking up. Such a method and device would increase efficiency and safety in commercial and non-commercial kitchens alike. The present invention satisfies this and other needs.